Better Late Than Never

37

After Fajr the next morning, Ayra joined the Omar Bellos in reciting a portion of the Qur'an.

While it was fascinating to know that they had daily goals they each tried to meet, it was more fascinating to feel like she'd always been a part of them and not as though she was joining them for the first time. It was fascinating to hear them recite too and she loved it, feeling surrounded by calmness and so much mercy.

As they had no major plans for the day, they all retreated to bed once the prayer mats had been folded and set aside along with the Qur'ans in the reading nook under the stairs. The tiredness hit Ayra as soon as her head came in contact with her bed's pillow and it didn't take long for sleep to pull her under.

She dreamt of the previous night's events, smiling unconsciously while holding the bed's other pillow to her chest. Sneaking out with Ayman had been wonderful and so was everything else; walking side by side with him down the stoned streets, their little whispers and laughter, arguing over gelato flavours before he chose the coffee chocolate chip flavour while she got the black raspberry chocolate chip flavour, getting a large pack of sugar coated churros, taking a few polaroid shots, heading back to the house and sneaking up to the rooftop terrace, and then the wonderful conversations they had while eating all they had gotten with a lovely view of Granada all around them.

She'd found out, through the conversations they'd had, that his birthday was at the end of the month (on the 27th) and that just like his family, he wasn't big on birthdays so it seemed just like every other day each year. She also found out that he'd taken a few Spanish classes with Adil before they learned all they knew on their own; often times conversing with each other once they had to recall what they'd learned.

She found out that Lusso – Adil's company – had originally been founded by him and Adil before he decided to intentionally go into fashion design. He was still a major stockholder, he told her, and once in a while, he had to attend important meetings when changes had to be made. There were times when he had to stand in for Adil too.

He told her then that those were the moments when he had to be suited up and it was a reminder for her that she was yet to see him in a suit. It was something she realised she wanted to witness so badly. Just as they'd turned in for the night, she'd prayed for an opportunity to present itself soon where she'd be blessed with the view. She had no doubt that just like with everything else he wore, he'd be beautiful.

Her post-Fajr sleep didn't last for more than an hour and half, and Ayra woke up to the muffled sounds of closing doors and soft laughter. Feeling refreshed and much stronger, she pushed herself up to a sitting position and stretched for a minute before she picked her phone. There were a number of messages; from her mother and father, from the vacation group, and then from Ibtihaj who asked whether Ayra wanted to go out with her later.

Ayra kept her reply short, stating that they should see how the day went first, and Ibtihaj's reply which came almost immediately had Ayra's eyes widening like saucers.

Ibty: Omo, e be like sey I get belle o.

Rather than sending a string of confused and shocked emojis in reply, Ayra clicked on Ibtihaj's contact icon and called instead. It was picked up on the second ring.

"Ayra –"

Ayra's words came out as a whispered scream. In her chest, her heart was frantic. "What on earth are you talking about?!"

A door closed on Ibtihaj's end. "I'm thinking about it o. All I sha know is that my period is late and this morning, they went to get things for breakfast and they bought eggs. Oga Adil was frying eggs and it was doing me like I should vomit. I want to go and do pregnancy test but I want to go on my own or go with you. Let me not go and give somebody's son hypertension and then it will just be that my period is moving mad and it will now show up."